the vows

If ever we stand beside each other
With shellacked face
Stiff sprayed hair
And nervous moistened hands
All the congregated eyes upon us
I hope that you will do me the honour
Of not telling me
That I complete you,
That I have made you happier than any other
And that now,
Assured of my steadfast love
You know that our lives together will be
A thrilling adventure.

Read me no Eskimo love songs,

Make me no metaphors of trees and rivers

And pledge me nothing that is not flawed and real

For I am too Catholic to the take the richer
Without the poorer,
The better without the worse,

Instead, with all that you are and all that you have
Promise that you know you will fuck up
For I will not bind myself to you
Because am I sure –
There is no commitment in certainty
No commitment in complete

There is no danger without dare
No hope without heartache
No fuck with no fuckup
And you never know, next time,

It may be me.

So take my hand, hold it in hope,
Remember me as I am now
Forgive me for who I have been
And who I will be
Tolerate my lonely nights
My heartless heart
The boredom of my melodramas
Make me the witness to your ordinary
The ordinary you would share with no other
For no other would have you as dull as a daily
Routine and regular
Uninspired, unexciting and ugly in the morning
Glorious as I have loved you
In the every day
And tell me

I am your love.